The Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Sen. Collins is the chair, has begun meeting this summer to discuss the agricultural policies that will be funded in 2026. Due to the passage of the Reconciliation Bill in June, there is not likely to be a Farm Bill in 2025, and if there is one, it will
Help us make a difference by contacting your Members of Congress today! The 2018 Farm Bill has been extended until September 30, 2025. Rather than passing a new Farm Bill, Congress extended the Farm Bill for another year. Without Congressional action, core organic programs, including the Organic Certification Cost Share Program, have expired, leaving thousands
Our small farmers and local food systems have been directly targeted by USDA cuts during the first months of the Trump administration including: Investing in our farms and local food system is critical for ensuring that we will be able to feed our communities. Maine is unique in that the average age of our farmers
On Friday, February 28, 2025, we held a press conference in South Portland, Maine, to hear from Maine farmers who are among those directly impacted by the federal funding freeze of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) payments. Millions of dollars in USDA funding, including funding for a variety of innovative, science-based programs that support
You’ve probably already heard the news that the Trump administration issued a sweeping federal freeze on all federal funding programs, which was then paused by a federal judge, and subsequently rescinded by the Administration. Programs that MOFGA implements for our farmers and our local food system are among the many thousands of programs that have
The White House released a memo last week calling for a pause on all federal grants and contracts, and a review of activities including, but not limited to, “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” Two days later the memo was rescinded while the underlying executive order from
Bills That MOFGA Followed In The 2024 Maine Legislative Session Below is a summary of the state legislation that MOFGA focused on in 2024. Appropriations Bill # Title Summaries MOFGA Position MOFGA Testimony Status LD 2214 An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds
MOFGA is celebrating landmark policies enacted two weeks ago by Maine’s Legislature. With bipartisan support, two bills address the devastating problem of farmland contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as forever chemicals due to their persistence and prevalence in contaminating human health and the environment. One bill stops the practice of
November 23, 2021 — Yesterday, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) joined a coalition of organizations to deliver signatures and comments from 7,739 organic consumers and farmers to submit a complaint to B Lab (administer of the B Corporation corporate social value certification program) against Danone North America, owner of Horizon Organic. The
MOFGA expressed great enthusiasm for passage of Question 3, which amends Maine’s constitution to ensure that citizens have the right to grow, raise, harvest and produce food, as long as they don’t commit trespassing, theft, poaching, or abuses to private land, public land, or natural resources. This is the first-in-the-nation right to food amendment enshrined
